2018 Was Busy. Let 2019 Be The Proof Of It

(*Well, it is the 30th of December, and the whole internet culture is making us more and more competitive every day to be first and best with greetings and compliments, so I expect I’m way behind already in my New Year greetings.)

We all know it’s not in my nature to be nice to people, but I really am very grateful for every reader who has ever stopped by my slippery little corner of the internet in 2018.

For me, this year was full of plot twists. I started a new job which ate my life, sucking energy and brainwaves in equal measure. It made it difficult to write at times, and impossible at others to make actual progress on any of the works projects I was trying to keep on the boil. Even still, I came damn close to getting a couple of them published, but as we say in my dear home county of Clare, nearly never bulled a cow, and being nearly published is about as life-affirming as Schrödinger’s cat.

Despite the fact that I’ve been quiet in December, I did really enjoy blogging this year. I regretted not having enough time to visit my favourite blogs, and feel I missed a lot from you this year. But I tried at least to keep up with my own.

Sometimes a big writing project is just too, well, BIG. Blogging comes in lovely bite-size pieces, though. There’s always time for a blog, even when a chapter is too steep a mountain to climb.

(Well, except if it’s December, and you’re distracted by a mince pie. But otherwise, there’s always time for a blog. Honest.)

Not to mention that blogging is social media, which means INSTANT GRATIFICATION WAHEY!!! It’s terrible, really. I might slag it off, but I’m as complicit as anyone when it comes to looking for a reaction to a posting online. You know pretty much immediately who’s reading and whether they like it or not.

Bigger writing projects take forever to go through the sausage machine and spit out results. Blogging tells you right now whether or not it worked. If people like something, you do more of it: if people don’t, you shrug and move on, without too much anguish or time wasted.

My most popular posts this year were all very different from each other, too, which is evidence of how much fun I had spewing wild thoughts online. Of course, they were all satirical or cynical, which as we all know is my raison d’être, and also my reason for being. The Top 5 for 2018 were:

One thing I did manage to do this year was write a new series for the blog, which I’ll begin to post in January. It’s a blogging skit, told from the point of view of the Bestest, most Amazingest and Humblest Social Influencer of Them All. I tested a few pieces for this earlier in the year, and had enormous fun in the process.

The genesis of the idea came from reading one too many articles about hugely successful bloggers who all seemed to be suffering from crippling anxiety for some reason. I started to wonder why.

I soon realised that if there’s one thing the internet has taught us, it’s that just like Sesame Street said: we really CAN be whoever we want to be… or at least, whoever we say we are. In fact, I’m not even sure there’s a difference any more. Because if the last couple of years have also taught us that facts are what we say they are, then social media is our biggest loudspeaker. And sadly, it appears to be making us sick.

However, I’m never one to let a serious or worrying issue to slip by without making some sort of joke about it. With that in mind, I’ll be posting my guide to being a social influencer, with special focus on the most popular and influential subjects, such as:

Beauty

Lifestyle

Fitness

Food

Politics and Social Activism

Photography

Home Decor

Fashion

Entertainment

Personal Growth and Transformation

Wellbeing

Motoring (obviously)

The whole project has been a revelation to me, as a niche blogger. As I said earlier in the year in an introduction to the tester piece How I Learned To Cure My Anxiety With A Classic Smoky Eye, being Ireland’s 5th most successful niche literary humour blogger focusing on conversations between fictional stereotypes is all very well, but if you’re doing well in one niche, why not cover ALL the niches?

I’m looking forward to introducing the philosophy of the Superblogger to you all in 2019. In the meantime, and before I get into full parody mode, I hope all of you have a healthy, peaceful, joyful and bountiful New Year. It’s been a pleasure doing the giggling with you in the old one.

Oooh… you HAVE been busy blog-plotting in 2018, haven’t you? Looking forward to the fruits of that! Meanwhile, enjoy the last of the old and the first of the new this week, I will be singing along to Jools, as always (Don’t get out much these days), and here’s to the success of actually really getting published in 2019… I can feel it in my water, well, my prosecco, but the less said about that the better really. Happy New Year, and may your golden diamond crusted wellies glow and never get covered in mud! 😘

I’ll be sitting with pipe and slippers myself this NYE Ali! No excitement and finally enjoying downtime. Here’s to your own endeavours in 2019… can’t wait to see what I’ll be congratulating you on this time next year 😆

And that’s why you’re my favourite, Geoff!! Your poetry has LAYERS. It’s a pleasure doing banter with you. Also looking forward to seeing what 2019 brings to you and your unique outlook on the universe!

Geoff… is… your… favorite?!? Your FAVORITE? I mean, come on, his comments are hilarious and brilliantly written but were you ever lost in the city with Geoff? Did you ever go to the pub? Did you share a meal? And don’t you love how I milk our humble couple of hours together for dramatic effect?

In the best spirit of 2018, I was going to leave a great comment, no, the greatest comment (many people have said I write the best comments), but now I’m not, and I’m seriously considering building a very tall wall (many people have said I build the best and tallest walls) around your house.

Yeah, Nick, I admit that was a bit harsh. It’s the fault of the internet, you see. It brings out the superlative in everyone. I mean, look at your last paragraph. It’s trying to trump everything that comes before it, but there’s only so much of that you can do without getting orange in the face, y’know?

Of course, you are my favourite, as is Geoff, a new puppy I met recently, and anything left in the house that has sugar in it. Between ourselves, though, you know you have the edge, Nick. Anyone who offers to build me a wall is automatically and spectacularly No. 1. Do you know the price of a wall around here these days??

I accept your apology but you’re being terribly naive, my dear. *I’m* not paying for the wall! I’ll have your neighbors do it. A few nights of deafening noise and, perhaps, some nice screaming every now and then should do the trick, wouldn’t you say?

Not as anxiously as they’re looking forward to your approval, Anne. They’re VERY anxious that you love them and throw shallow compliments their way. And thank you for hosting me again this year – I had a ball!!

Happy New Year Tara…thanks for keeping going and for sharing your witty insights into your view on the world. They are like you a joy . From your fellow” nearly never bulled a cow …” neighbour ! Heres to a bright new published year!! Love Carol xx

I’m sure I’m so far down on the list I barely register, but HAPPY NEW YEAR TO MY FAVORITE BLOGGER. You make me laugh regularly, and that, right there, is the greatest gift. Well, maybe not the “greatest” — I got a pair of flannel pants that seriously rock — but ALMOST the greatest. ❤

About Tara

Writer of fiction and screenplays.
Winner of Funniest Blog at one awards thingy and Best Newcomer at another.
Blogging about bestselling book trends, literary humour, people's behaviour on the internet, traditional and self-publishing, marketing tips, success stories and spectacular failures at tarasparlingwrites.com.